ArticlePloS one2014
Disrupted TH17/Treg balance in patients with chronic low back pain.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immune-inflammatory and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis biomarkers are altered in patients with non-specific low back pain: A systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Cellular and molecular characterisation of the peripheral immune environment in migraine.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Challenges and opportunities for omics-based precision medicine in chronic low back pain.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Review
- Treponema denticola major surface protein (Msp): a key player in periodontal pathogenicity and immune evasion.Archives of microbiology · 2025Review
- Role of Vitamin D Status and Alterations in Gut Microbiota Metabolism in Fibromyalgia-Associated Chronic Inflammatory Pain.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Precision prediction of intervertebral disc degeneration in ankylosing spondylitis using a nomogram model reveals the pivotal role of Th2-type immune dysregulation.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- No evidence of association between either Modic change or disc degeneration and five circulating inflammatory proteins.JOR spine · 2024Article
- Identification of Biomarkers, Pathways, Immune Properties of Mitophagy Genes, and Prediction Models for Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.Journal of inflammation research · 2024Article
- Impact of inflammation and Treg cell regulation on neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury: mechanisms and therapeutic prospects.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Protocol for Biospecimen Collection and Analysis Within the BACPAC Research Program.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2023Article
- Plasma proteomic profiles of pain subtypes in adolescents and young adults with endometriosis.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Long-term changes of Th17 and regulatory T cells in peripheral blood of dogs with spinal cord injury after intervertebral disc herniation.BMC veterinary research · 2023Article
- Article
- SIRT1: A promising therapeutic target for chronic pain.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2022Review
- The Clinical Effect and Mechanism of Prostant on Urinary Retention and Anal Pain.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- The Role of Neuro-Immune Interactions in Chronic Pain: Implications for Clinical Practice.Journal of pain research · 2022Review
- The role of T-lymphocytes in neuropathic pain initiation, development of chronicity and treatment.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2021Review
- Revealing the Immune Infiltration Landscape and Identifying Diagnostic Biomarkers for Lumbar Disc Herniation.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Evaluation of the involvement of Th17-cells in the pathogenesis of canine spinal cord injury.PloS one · 2021Article
- How Well Do Current Laboratory Biomarkers Inform Clinical Decision-Making in Chronic Pain Management?Journal of pain research · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledChronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability and costs in health care systems worldwide. Despite extensive research, the exact pathogenesis of CLBP, particularly the individual risk of chronification remains unclear. To investigate a possible role of the adaptive immune system in the pathophysiology of CLBP, we analyzed T cell related cytokine profiles, T cell related mRNA expression patterns and the distribution of T cell subsets in 37 patients suffering from nonspecific CLBP before and after multimodal therapy in comparison to 25 healthy controls. Serum patterns of marker cytokines were analyzed by Luminex technology, mRNA expression of cytokines and specific transcription factors was measured by real-time PCR, and distribution of TH1-, TH2-, TH17- and regulatory T cell (Tregs) subsets was determined by multicolor flow cytometry. We found that CLBP patients exhibit an increased number of anti-inflammatory Tregs, while pro-inflammatory TH17 cells are decreased, resulting in an altered TH17/Treg ratio. Accordingly, FoxP3 and TGF-β-mRNA expression was elevated, while expression of IL-23 was reduced. Serum cytokine analyses proved to be unsuitable to monitor the adaptive immune response in CLBP patients. We further show that even after successful therapy with lasting reduction of pain, T cell subset patterns remained altered after a follow-up period of 6 months. These findings suggest an involvement of TH17/Treg cells in the pathogenesis of CLBP and emphasize the importance of these cells in the crosstalk of pain and immune response.
trial registrationGerman Clinical Trial Register: Registration Trial DRKS00005954.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.